Comment by justusthane
5 hours ago
Where in the world do you live? Racine? I grew up in very much small town, northern WI (Ashland, right on Lake Superior) and stayed until my late 20s. My experience of WI could not be more different from yours.
People for the most part are very friendly and welcoming (yes, including of people who aren’t like them).
WI is traditionally a working-class blue state — not incredibly progressive, but probably better than average (it did, unfortunately, go for Trump both times though).
Madison is a lovely (and very liberal) city with good cycling infrastructure. Maybe people aren’t flocking to Milwaukee, but it’s a nice enough city.
I grew up in the country, at the end of a quarter mile gravel road, and have had mostly front-wheel drive cars. 4WD is not a prerequisite to living in Wisconsin.
We got fiber in our rural neighborhood in 2009. I’m not a football fan (I do, however, own a few guns). Yes, the bugs suck.
I’m sorry for your experience.
As another born and raised Wisconsinite:
There’s the superficial “friendly and welcoming” that applies to everybody. You’ll wave at everyone you see and lend a hand if their car is stuck in a snowbank.
But there’s also a very insular clannishness where you will never get beyond a surface level unless you’re “one of them”.
However this is less of a “Wisconsin thing” and more of an “every northern rural area” thing